10 Thoughts on Oklahoma State’s 41-24 Victory Against West Virginia

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MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — After a two-year slumber, it’s feeling more and more like Cowboy football is back.

Oklahoma State beat West Virginia 41-24 on Saturday night in Morgantown, with the Cowboys picking up their first Big 12 win of the season (and of the past 1,000-plus days).

Here are 10 Thoughts on the game.

1. Mestemaker, OSU Offense Explode in Second Half

The Cowboys had a fine first half offensively, but Drew Mestemaker came out slinging in the second.

Of his 389 passing yards, 274 came in the second half.

The Cowboys looked like they were at a WVU tailgate taking shot after shot in the final 30 minutes, with Mestemaker completing passes of six passes of at least 27 yards in the second half alone.

Eric Morris praised Mestemaker’s patience in the first half, as the Mountaineers were playing a little umbrella coverage, leading to Caleb Hawkins getting rolling (which we’re about to get to). But then from the jump in the second half, Mestemaker was out for blood.

On OSU’s first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, Mestemaker checked to a go-ball to Chris Barnes for a 52-yard gain, and he’d go on to complete three more passes of at least 40 yards in the half.

He’s an incredible quarterback. I’m not ready to start ranking OSU’s QBs after four games, but it’s him, Brandon Weeden and Mason Rudolph in some order — it just is.

2. Caleb Hawkins Feasted

We came into this game talking about the WVU run game. Although that was potent on Saturday night, so was Caleb Hawkins.

The Cowboys’ star back ran for a season-high 180 yards and a touchdown on 31 carries. I’m excited to see the PFF breakdown, but it seemed like Hawkins particularly had success running to the left.

His innate ability to fall forward needs to be studied because it seemingly gets him an extra two or three yards on every run,

He runs similarly to Ollie Gordon, but it looks quite a bit different (no offense to Hawkins, but Gordon is a physical specimen). Both guys are patient until its time to plant your foot in the ground and go north and south, and then it can get violent from then on.

This was a season breakout game for a handful of guys, with Hawkins chief among them.

3. Wyatt Young Is a Dawg

Wyatt Young was again massive for the Cowboys, and he’s got an attitude to him.

He caught eight passes on Saturday, and after seemingly every one of them, he let whichever Mountaineer that was guarding him know about it. Those catches went for 192 yards and a Moss of a touchdown to put the Cowboys up by two scores late.

Just absolutely slingin’ it rn

📺: FS1 pic.twitter.com/ak2i7HBLLH

— OSU Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) September 27, 2026

This is an elite receiving unit, as through four games it feels like it goes back and forth between Young and Justin Bowick as to whom is the Cowboys’ best receiver. And if one of those two are your best guys, then Chris Barnes, Terrence Lewis and Miles Coleman are elite depth options.

4. The Cowboys Defense Locked in During the Second Half

The first half was probably the roughest stretch of football the Cowboy defense has had this season, but the second half might’ve been its best.

The Mountaineers technically gained more yards in the second, gaining 229 in the first and 237 in the second, but the Cowboys held WVU to only 10 second.

The unit made two game-defining plays, one in each half.

The first was Mose Phillips’ interception off a tip when the Mountaineers were driving deep into OSU territory. WVU had a 14-6 lead at the time, but Phillips returned that INT 30 yards the other direction to set up the touchdown that made it 14-13 going into the half, a huge swing.

The big play in the second half was OSU’s fourth-down stop late in the third quarter.

The Cowboys had a 28-24 lead at the time, and WVU had a 4th-and-1 on the OSU 40-yard line. The Mountaineers didn’t have much trouble picking up a yard on the ground all night, but the defense bowed up then and got the big stop, setting up the field goal that made it 31-24.

5. Have A Day, Ethan Wesloski

The Cowboys’ defense has been good through three games, but there hadn’t necessarily been a breakout individual performance … until Saturday night.

In a game where OSU’s linebackers needed to show out with the rushing attack of the Mountaineers, Wesloski made 17 tackles, tying a career-high.

It’s a game where you knew OSU’s linebackers needed to have a big day against that rushing attack, and Wesloski answered the challenge.

But he wasn’t the only one. Tate Romney (12), Quinton Hammonds (12) and Phillips (11) all reached double-digit tackles.

6. The Third-Down Stats Took a Hit

When we wake up Sunday morning, the Cowboys will no longer have the best third-down defense in the country, as the Mountaineers converted 9-for-17.

That was, to an extent, expected given West Virginia’s offensive philosophy, as eight of the Mountaineers’ third-down attempts came with 4 or fewer yards to gain. WVU set up third down with positive first and second downs.

Like everything on Saturday, OSU’s defense got better in the second half, where WVU was 4-for-9 on third. But if the Cowboys want to get back to being the third-down champs, they’ll have to climb a bit back up the ladder.

7. Inside the 5

The Cowboys’ short-yardage offense has been put under a microscope early this season.

They got inside the WVU 5-yard line twice on Saturday, settling for a field goal on the first occasion and getting in the end zone on the second.

The touchdown, like last week, came on some horizontal movement, with Mestemaker throwing a ball out to Terrence Lewis for his second touchdown in as many weeks. He also converted a 2-point attempt immediately following.

fight through contact 💪

got ourselves a tie game

📺: FS1 pic.twitter.com/GT5ZJjwb0R

— OSU Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) September 27, 2026

It’s a little worrying the Cowboys haven’t been able to just push a team into the end zone consistently, but the other guys get paid, too. It was something Morris harped on in his postgame again.

Thus far this season, the Cowboys are averaging 4 points (not including PATs) on their nine trips inside the 5-yard line. That’s four touchdowns, four field goals and one fourth-down stop (the first drive of the season). If this team is going to have the ceiling it wants to have, that’s still going to need to get cleaned up a bit.

8. West Virginia Is a Fun Team

Michael Hawkins is like water.

There were times you were just certain the Cowboys had him, and he slipped out of a tackle or nimbly got to the corner.

It’s what makes college football better than the NFL, in my opinion, that a style like this is still functional.

The Mountaineers’ unique style of play is going to give some teams some issues this season. They might not win every game, but tuning into WVU will be a fun watch all season.

9. Another Gross Streak Comes to an End

The Cowboys’ conference losing streak could legally vote (in games, not years, though it felt like years), but at last, that streak is over.

It had been 1,037 days since Oklahoma State had won a Big 12 game, a number Morris couldn’t help but chuckle at when he heard it in the postgame.

And there have been brutal losses and brutal football played in that stretch. If you’re reading this, congratulations on making it to the other side because …

10. Football Is Fun Again

Midway through the second half, I had an epiphany that win or lose, watching this team play football is just head and shoulders more enjoyable than anything we were subjected to the past two seasons.

For the first time in a long time, it felt like this Big 12 game actually meant something rather than being the means to an end of a season.

The Cowboys are back to throwing it around the yard, scoring points and playing meaningful football. And after the past two seasons, I refuse to take that for granted again.